Tony Khan credits Keith Lee with Shane Taylor's arrival in AEW and the new ROH.
Since Khan acquired ROH in March, many fans have expressed their interest in seeing Taylor, a former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion, return to the company. Like many other ROH stars, Taylor left the company after it went on hiatus following the Final Battle 2021 pay-per-view, as ROH did not renew the wrestlers' contracts. While some stars like Dalton Castle and The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) have been part of the new ROH, Taylor had remained absent until he debuted on the December 2 episode of AEW Rampage. There, he challenged his former partner Keith Lee to a tag team match at ROH Final Battle, where Taylor and JD Griffey will face Lee and Swerve Strickland.
Speaking on the ROH Final Battle media conference call, Khan was asked about Taylor's contract status. The AEW President stated that he didn't want to get into specifics, but he's excited to have him in the new ROH. Khan made it clear that he has been looking to bring in stars who thrived in ROH in the past.
"I don’t want to get into contractual status, typically, but I was excited to have him here. Obviously, he’s been a great champion in Ring of Honor, and there are a lot great wrestlers in Ring of Honor and we have a great roster in AEW. Now, as we’re doing more Ring of Honor events, I’ve looked to bring in people that have had success in Ring of Honor and all over the world and try to build a new an exciting version going into Final Battle," Khan said.
Khan then highlighted Taylor's match at ROH Final Battle and stated that the former ROH World Television Champion is "a good name" he'd consider for the roster. He stated that Lee came up with the idea to bring Taylor in, and they ran with it.
"That’s something I’m looking forward to at Final Battle, seeing former partners colliding and then how does that play into Keith Lee’s current partner drama. He’s got drama with his current partner Swerve Strickland and he’s got a former partner in Shane Taylor, who wants some payback and resolution, and Shane Taylor has another former partner there, JD Griffey. It’s a family affair, it should be very exciting at Final Battle to see, Shane Taylor in this new Ring of Honor. it hasn’t been that long that we’ve been doing these Ring of Honor shows, it’s only my third full ROH event. Shane Taylor is someone, from the beginning, that has been a good name we’d consider. When the situation with Keith Lee came up, it was actually Keith Lee, when we were talking about idea, he brought it up to me. I thought it was a great idea. When people have good ideas like that, I want to support them. Keith had something there," Taylor said.
Taylor recently commented on his AEW Rampage debut. Check out his comments here.
Lee discussed his upcoming match with Taylor at ROH Final Battle. Click here to see what he had to say.
Check out the card for ROH Final Battle here.
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